Update: Sydney - Quarter's & semi's

Hi everyone,

It's getting hotter and hotter down in Australia, with temperatures climbing to 40 degrees (106 Fahrenheit)! If this heatwave keeps on going during the Australian Open, there are going to be two enemy's to battle on the court: the opponent and the heat!

Think twice before calling tennis players wussies because they played the quarter's & semi's uninterrupted despite the heat.

 

In the top half of the draw Radwanska and Na Li extended their winning streak in 2013. The Pole beat Vinci: 6-4, 7-5, while Na Li had a very tough battle against American qualifier Madison Keys: 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2. After that lost first set, the Chinese turned things around from the second set tiebreak on.

 

 

In their semifinal it showed Na Li was tired of that match. Radwanska took early breaks in both sets and although needing eight or so match points, she won: 6-3, 6-4.

 

 

Radwanska will be up against Cibulkova, you gotta love that tiny Slovak! She defeated another two top ten players getting into the final. First she crushed Errani: 6-2, 6-1. Kerber brought a solid game to beat Kuznetsova: 6-3, 7-5, but lacked the determination to come out victorious against Cibulkova: 2-6, 6-4, 3-6.

 

So who is gonna take that Sydney title? Radwanska is on a fabulous winning streak, not even losing a set yet and with a title in Auckland already secure. But Cibulkova definitely has no problem upsetting another top ten player although she will need of patience to set up the points against the Pole.
To see the highlights of the quarter and semifinals:

Sorry, I had trouble with some photos before, but now everything is alright again. New technology can be a bitch. Keep posted!

Update: Sydney - Second Round

Hi everyone,

Last year we had a lot of ankle injuries during the first month of the season, this time it's the year of the third set tiebreak. I've seen like eight or nine of them in the past few tournaments!

In the second round at Sydney both Vinci and Cibulkova needed them to advance to the next round. Vinci against Jankovic: 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) and the Kvitova-killer against Makarova: 7-6(3), 1-6, 7-6(1). Let's hope to see much more of them because oh man that's just nerve wracking to watch!
 

 

This round also featured Wozniacki's last match before the Australian Open. Kuznetsova beat her: 7-6(4), 1-6, 6-2. I hope we'll see the Russian do a spectacular comeback at the Australian Open, but it's more likely we'll see Wozniacki crash out of it quite soon.

 

The other seeded players all managed to win in the second set. Radwanska had a mash-up against Japanese Date-Krumm: 6-4, 6-3. Kerber defeated Voskoboeva: 6-2, 7-5. Vinci's doublepartner Errani is also through (and also in the doubles still): 6-1, 6-1 against Kirilenko. Na Li was quite merciful, leaving just one game to Morita: 6-1, 6-0.

 

Sydney also did a (quite strange) quiz with two well-known players on the tour: Kuznetsova and Jankovic, they've been at this for years. No amount of weird questions can get them to stop smiling!

Keep posted!

Update: Sydney - First Round

Hi everyone,

Instead of some spectacular first round upsets in Brisbane, the first round in Sydney has been quite calm. Kvitova didn't manage to defeat Cibulkova, but okay that's a tough draw anyway. The fact that she was swept off the court: 6-1, 6-1, isn't too promising for the Australian Open in a week though.

 

 

Stosur was keen on getting revenge for her first round loss in Brisbane. Imagine the Aussie crowd holding their breath when she lost the first set to Chinese Zheng: 3-6. She neutralized her many unforced errors in the second set but she decided, it's way not cool enough to win it 6-2 or 7-5 (both having setpoints at those times) but in a tiebreak: 7-6(7)! I was clinging to the screen (while I should be studying by the way Sammy!). The third set started off well with a break and a lead: 3-1, but in an instant Zheng was 5-3 up. Stosur broke back but lost her own service game: 6-4 for Zheng. Do I call this an upset? Maybe, she's the sixth seed after all but we're in Australia, Sammy never seems to get her game going there...

 

Wozniacki came out victorious against the younger Radwanska: 6-1, 6-2. She's desperate to wipe all the speculation under the rug now. Let's hope she'll show some more excellent tennis this week, preferable in her next match against Kuznetsova (wow, that's been a long time since I saw here!). Na Li had a tough battle on the other hand against McHale but overcame the American: 7-6(2), 7-5.

Keep posted for the exciting second round matches (finally Kerber and Radwanska will play after getting a bye in the first round)!

Introducing: Apia International - Sydney

Hi everyone,

We're at the last Australian Open Series tournament! Everybody is getting out their big guns to scare the competition one last time. Everybody, except for the three first ranked players: Azarenka, Sharapova and Serena. We'll have to wait to see what they're capable of in Melbourne. This also means Azarenka won't be able to defend her points here, winning against Na Li last year.

 

 

So it's a packed draw with tough first round matches for some of the seeded players:

- Na Li vs. McHale = the American is always out to upset!

- Stosur vs. Zheng = Chinese tend to play better in Asia but then again Stosur is an Aussie herself, hopefully the crowd will cheer her on to victory.

- Kvitova vs. Cibulkova = I haven't seen Cibulkova play yet but I have seen Kvitova so likely to become a bit of a thriller.

- Wozniacki vs. Urszula Radwanska = with the Dane recent first round defeat, you never know who might do the same, let's hope she bounces back quickly!

 

Keep posted!

Update: Brisbane - Final

Hi everyone,

Brisbane has come to an end, rather fast. Serena needed just 50 minutes to demolish Pavlyuchenkova: 6-2, 6-1. The Russian fought quite nicely back in the first four games but then Serena just took over. This is a clear message to everybody in the field: Serena is ready to capture the Australian Open title! The question now is who will stop her?

 

In other news: both Na Li and Radwanska did good in their other tournament. The Chinese won in Shenzhen by defeating Zakopalova: 6-3, 1-6, 7-5. Radwanska grabbed the ASB classic trophee by beating Wickmayer: 6-4, 6-4 in a solid performance of the Belgian.

 

Mentally a title is definitely a good start but the real competition was in Brisbane, so a real test has yet to follow. And they will find it in Sydney! A lot of top players are already in Sydney for training and Stosur is one of them (yes, smiling!)

 

Some more news: Wozniacki is also in Sydney with McIlroy ... everywhere.

 

Sad news: Petkovic is out again after playing in the Hopman Cup. A knee injury putting her out of business for two months. At least she hasn't lost her sense of humor, tweeting things like this:

'Eating cake and watching Interpol concert on TV. Hospital isn't too bad after all. And lips and botox face turned out fine btw.'

'On the to-do-list: 1.Cut my hair. Short. Very short. 2.Dye it pink or blonde 3. Hold Rafa's hand until we're both healthy again.'
'Just kidding. I would never do that......the Rafa thing, I mean ;)'

If I have a photo of Petkovic with pink short hair, you will see it appear here!

Keep posted for Sydney! (and yes, it can be bad weather there too, who knew?!)

 

Update: Brisbane - Quarter's & Semi's

Hi everyone,

Brisbane is turning into a real surprise-tournament! Firstly due to withdrawal of Sharapova, a lucky loser managed to sneek into the semi's by defeating Hantuchova: 6-3, 6-4. Her name? Lesia Tsurenko, 23 year old from Ukraine currently ranked number 116. Who knows, maybe with some luck she'll get a few rounds in the Australian Open!

 

In the semi's she unfortunately fell short to Pavlyuchenkova. Now I'm certain, the Russian is back! Her game seems solid and especially the mental state is a lot better than last year! She held her nerve tremendously in her match against Kerber: 7-6(3), 7-6(3) and after trailing a set against the lucky loser of the tournament Tsurenko: 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

 

 

But wait, that wasn't the biggest news yet! I was so looking forward to the semifinal between Azarenka and Serena (after winning against Pervak and Stephens respectively), a nice test before a Grand Slam. Giving me some clue to predict the outcome of the Australian Open. Nope...Nothing. I'm doomed to wishful thinking because Azarenka withdrew!

 

 

Yes, you heard it right. The number one, who downed Pervak: 6-1, 6-0, is dealing with a toe injury. I'm getting the picture that Sharapova mentionned before (read it here) , Azarenka's withdrawals are at least...strange. Didn't she dare to face Serena quite yet in Brisbane? Or was she being careful to play the Australian Open, but why did she give up just now then? We'll get it all answered at Melbourne, won't we.

 

Anyway, we got a magnificent final between Serena and Pavlyuchenkova. The betting sites are giving Serena a 97 procent chance (and a probability of 8% for a tiebreak, how do they calculate such things, right?), so I'm gonna go with those odds, but certainly not betting! My unsteady predictions would get totally broke!

 

Oh yes, I have a clip of Azarenka behind the scenes at Brisbane (some consolation after missing a possible tremendous match!). The only thing I was thinking: if you're alone at new year, who is holding the camera then?! Totally in agreement about the bra thing...

 

Keep posted!

Update: Brisbane - Road to Quarterfinals

Hi everyone,

A lot of top players crashed out already in the first two rounds of Brisbane! Wozniacki disappointed in the first match of the year against Pervak: 6-2, 3-6, (1)6-7. The Kazach qualifier needed another third set tiebreak to reach the quarterfinal against Urzsula Radwanska: 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(6), a very tight match!

 

 

The next victim was Stosur who lost against Swedish Arvidsson in two sets: (4)6-7, 5-7. It's gonna be a long way before the Aussie really starts to perform on home soil. Let's hope she'll be better at the Australian Open, we feel with you Sammy...

 

 

Also Kvitova is out. She lost in the second round to Pavlyuchenkova: 4-6, 5-7. I still have to decide if the Russian is back or Kvitova isn't quite ready to start off the year with some fabulous wins.

 

 

I'm proud to say I was right about Hantuchova. She had a marvelous start of the year by getting past Errani in the second round: 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 to reach the Brisbane quarterfinals. With Sharapova's withdrawal right before the tournament start, Hantuchova now faces lucky loser Tsurenko in the quarters.

We're down to just three seeded players in Brisbane! Serena had straight forward wins to get in the quarterfinals, just losing 7 games in two rounds. She'll play fellow country woman Sloane Stephens.
Azarenka needed to battle through some amazing return shots from Lisicki, but in the end the German didn't have to game to break the number one.

Kerber had quite a scare in the second round! She was a break down in the third set and 5-2 in the deciding tiebreaker against the number 124 in the world, Puerto Rican Puig, to fight back: 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(7). My favorite Kerber pic of the match (gotta love the honesty in that!):

To sum it up for the quarterfinals in Brisbane: Azarenka vs. Pervak, Serena against Stephens, Kerber will play Pavlyuchenkova and Hantuchova vs. Tsurenko. Keep posted, I'm predicting an Azarenka-Serena semifinal so that will be quite a show!